Languages sit firmly in the skill-set of the 21st-century graduate. In an increasingly multicultural and multilingual job market, monolingual graduates are at a disadvantage: as the recent Born Global report (2016) notes, "multilingualism has now become the new normal". The contributions in this collection are imbued with this idea and they demonstrate clearly and practically how languages are an aid to global communication. The aim of this book is to provide a space to bring together expertise and good academic practice for the benefit of educators and academic audiences. The contributions in this collection will continue to inspire practitioners in the education sectors to embed employability skills into their curricula of studies, from as early as secondary school into higher education. Following a foreword (Michael Kelly), and Introduction to Languages and Employability Skills (Erika Corradini, Kate Borthwick, and Angela Gallagher-Brett), this book is divided into three sections. Section I, Languages in the Real World, contains the following papers: (1) Why Languages Make Business Sense (Raquel Fernández-Sánchez); (2) Language in the Workplace: Combining Academic Study with Work Experience (Jane Lugea); (3) Work Placements for Languages Students: A Transformative Experience (Alison Organ); (4) Intercultural Language Learning at Work: A Student-Designed Module (Marion Sadoux); (5) Independent Work Placements as a Gateway to the World of Work (Rosalba Biasini, Anke Bohm, and Marina Rabadán-Gómez); (6) Work Based Learning in Intercultural Settings: A Model in Practice (David Elvis Leeming and Maria Dolores Iglesias Mora); (7) The International Languages and Science Careers Fair: Focussing Minds and Making Connections (Natalie Orr and Matthew Birtchnell); (8) Careers Using Languages: How to Set Up a Conference for Schools (Alison Hayes); and (9) "Professional Contexts for Modern Languages": Work Experience and Academic Reflection in a Multilingual Context (Olga Gomez-Cash). Section II, The Professional Linguist, contains the following papers: (10) Career Adventures from Learning Languages (Paul Kaye); (11) The Professional Linguist: Language Skills for the Real World (Mary Murata); (12) Real Language Meets Real Business (Bill Muirhead and Sarah Schechter); (13) You're the Business--A Custom-Made Business Challenge for Modern Languages Students (Jean-Christophe Penet); (14) Plan Your Future! Career Management Skills for Students of Languages (Laurence Randall); (15) Communicating and Teaching Languages: A Module for Life (René Koglbauer, Elizabeth Andersen, and Sophie Stewart); (16) Get That Job! A Project on the German Job Application Process (Hanna Magedera-Hofhansl); and (17) How To: Preparing to Find a Job as a Spanish Teacher in the UK (Gemma Carmen Belmonte Talero). Section III, Bringing the Workplace into the Classroom, contains the following papers: (18) SOS Employability: A Support Structure for Language Students (Eleanor Quince, James Minney, Charlotte Medland, and Francesca Rock); (19) Is Developing Employability Skills Relevant to Adult Language Students? (Tita Beaven); (20) Up-Skilling through E-Collaboration (Saskia Huc-Hepher and Elsa Huertas Barros); (21) The Employability Advantage: Embedding Skills through a University-Wide Language Programme (Tiziana Cervi-Wilson and Billy Brick); (22) Spanish for Business: A Journey into Employability (Amparo Lallana and Victoria Pastor-González); (23) Learning by Teaching: Developing Transferable Skills (Sascha Stollhans); (24) Opening Doors to Teaching: Understanding the Profession (Jonas Langner and Andrea Zhok); (25) Leadership and Languages: Inspiring Young Linguists (Rachel Hawkes and Sarah Schechter); and (26) The Age of the Monolingual Has Passed: Multilingualism Is the New Normal (Bernardette Holmes). Contains an author index. (Individual papers contain references and links.)

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews